Spices are rich in antioxidants and other bioactive phytochemicals, commonly referred to as phytonutrients. The bioactive compounds found in spices and herbs mainly include polyphenols, comprising flavonoids and their glycosides, polyphenolic acids and their derivatives, catechins and procyanidins, anthocyanins etc. Because spices have very low calorie content and are relatively inexpensive, they are reliable sources of antioxidants and other potential bioactive compounds in diet. There are many well studied reports that spices and herbs contain chockfull of antioxidant phytonutrients capable of providing better antioxidant protection and many other beneficial health guarding pharmacological activities in vivo. Many preclinical and clinical studies have shown that the phytochemicals in spices and herbs can provide a great deal of protection and even curing of many disease states such as metabolic syndromes and even chronic diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's etc. It has been proved that a plant-based diet can protect against chronic oxidative stress-related diseases and it has been shown that various chemical families present in dietary plants and their high antioxidant potential is primarily the reason for the beneficial effects.
A large number of research papers are available on various spices and herbs to demonstrate that they are rich in various types of phytochemicals possessing strong antioxidant and other pharmacological actions. Various extracts of such spices/herbs, namely water extract, alcohol extract, hydro-alcoholic extracts, acetone-water extracts and other polar and non-polar solvent extracts have been reported to possess beneficial effects. But most of these extracts were prepared in small scale of the order of 10 to 50 grams in solution or crude paste form and used for analysis immediately after their extraction.
No information regarding their formulation into various forms suitable for the commercial scale preparation, storage and uses are mentioned elsewhere. Further, these works are not considered the strong taste and aroma and volatile oil content in such extracts which very often limits their usage or consumption. Yet another issue that the research papers have not addressed is the solubility of spice/herb phytonutrients. Most of these antioxidant phytochemicals have very low solubility in water owing to their hydrophobicity and are not completely soluble in water. Aqueous insolubility, temperature instability under conditions of process like pasteurizations, instability of aqueous solutions during storage, and finally a convenient form of said extracts for storage with enough shelf life of not less than 12 months are the other major challenges in addition to aroma and pungency issues with regard to the preparation and functional use of spice/herb extracts.
Various in vitro, in vivo studies and clinical trials have shown that spice derived antioxidant phytonutrients from spices and herbs have beneficial pharmacological effects against many of the disease states; such as obesity, insulin resistance, anti-hypercholesterolemic, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, gastrointestinal disorders etc. (Annu. Rev. Nutr. 2010. 30:14.1-14.27), (Current Cardiology Reviews, 2010, 6, 274-279) (Mol Neurobiol. 2011 October; 44(2): 142-159), (J Nutr Biochem. 2008 June; 19(6): 347-361).
Further, a number of publications/patents are also available about the extraction of antioxidants containing crude extracts and their antioxidant efficacy measurements using various in vitro and in vivo assays. These common extracts are prepared using water, alcohol, water-alcohol mixture and other organic solvents. (Food Chemistry, 118, 2010, 589-593, Nutrition Journal 2010, 9:3, WO/2013/057520, U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,352, US20100215783, WO/2013/049540, U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,260, WO/2007/130666.
Though these studies are useful to understand the various antioxidant molecules present in each spice extracts and the antioxidant efficacy of various extracts (such as water extract, alcohol extract etc.), no information are available to date regarding the formulation of such extracted antioxidants in a convenient stable and water soluble dosage form ready for the application in food/beverages/dairy products without the taste/pungency issue, and to trigger a beneficial physiological function. Even if extraction process have been studied, most of these studies have performed in vivo using capsules/tablets or even powders of antioxidant phytonutrient extracts or isolated phytochemicals of spices and herbs which are not suitable for food/beverage/diary applications. It is always better to incorporate such health guarding or promoting phytonutrients of spices/herbs in food/beverage matrices for general daily consumption to derive the health benefits. But, the consumption of spices and spice extracts containing standardized high levels of phytonutrients cause many issues due to their inherent taste (pungency, bitterness etc.), aroma, stability, water solubility, availability in food quality etc. No antioxidant phytonutrient-rich completely water soluble and stable extracts of spices/herbs capable of providing enough dosage (physiologically relevant amount of antioxidants or bioactive molecules/serving) in a cost-effective manner has reported so far. Further no one has addressed the issues of a stable and fully water soluble organic grade antioxidant rich spice/herb extracts suitable for the beverage/diary applications. No information about the solubility, formulation, antioxidant effect, stability, taste and aroma issues, sedimentation when used in beverages etc. have been disclosed.
The antioxidants disclosed in the research papers are not free from the strong aroma and pungent taste characteristic of the spices for easy impregnation in the beverage/diary matrix for consumption. Though some publications regarding the aqueous extracts, alcoholic extracts, hydro-alcoholic extracts and other solvent extracts of spices and their in vitro or in vivo antioxidant efficacies have reported in the literature, no information is available about their possible formulation water soluble, stable, convenient powder forms suitable for the ready incorporation into various powder or liquid based food/beverage/dairy products at physiologically relevant levels, without the aroma or taste issues.